Trio sentenced to five years for forcing woman into prostitution

DUBAI // Three men who were sentenced to fives years in jail after they forced a runaway maid into prostitution, must see out their jail terms. M H, 34, and K Y, 35, MS, 23, all Bangladeshis, were convicted of human trafficking last year. The Dubai Criminal Court was told that S P, 31, an […]

DUBAI // Three men who were sentenced to fives years in jail after they forced a runaway maid into prostitution, must see out their jail terms.

The Dubai Criminal Court was told that S P, 31, an Indonesian escaped from the three-member gang which forced her into prostitution only to be captured by two other men who forced her to work in a massage parlour.

SP had absconded from her sponsor’s family in Hatta because they beat her up and did not pay her on time. She said she met a woman who claimed her name was Noor Hayati and she convinced SP to abscond as she could find her a better job.

The maid was then taken to a flat where three other women where being held. S P was beaten up and threatened until she agreed to work as a prostitute.

After two weeks of work, she was sold to another person, whose name she did not know.

“I worked for him for a month before I managed to escape and find a taxi,” said the maid.

She asked the taxi driver to take her to a police station, but instead, he handed her over to two men, who took her to Abu Dhabi.

The men then locked her up and forced her to work in a massage centre for up to 14 hours a day.

She was then offered for sale again, but this time the buyer was an undercover policeman.

On May 4 last year, M H and K Y were arrested and the maid was rescued.

“We arrested them in a sting operation after they were tipped off for trying to sell the maid for Dh4,000,” said Emirati policeman SA, 30.

Further investigations then led to the arrest of MS who the maid claimed had forced her into prostitution in Dubai.

Prosecutors said MH and KY confessed to a human trafficking charge, while MS denied knowing the victim.

When they appeared in court last August all three men denied human trafficking charges. MS denied confining the victim. However they were convicted and sentenced to five years in jail each to be followed by deportation which they appealed, and lost after the Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.